WEAVE in the Guardian (Warrington)

TALENTED students at Priestley College, Warrington have wowed a leading figure in computer game design.

Arthur Parsons, who is Head of Design at TT Games, visited the College last week to meet those on its Tech Level Computer Games Design course.

Arthur has been the game director of several of the popular LEGO franchises including LEGO Batman and LEGO Marvel while also involved in the design and development of others like Crash Bandicoot and Toy Story.

He was joined at Priestley College by Jeff Coghlan, the founder of Matmi which develops games, websites and other gamification solutions for a range of companies as varied as airlines and theme parks.

Arthur said: “I was blown away by the quality of work that the students at Priestley are producing,” said Arthur, whose company is contracted to develop the LEGO games and Sonic the Hedgehog to name just a few.

“I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on the students emerging from Priestley.”

Matthew Wilson, who teaches Computer Games Design at Priestley, said: “This was such an exciting opportunity for our students to demonstrate their talents to leading figures in the industry and for the college to look at how it becomes part of a wider network that will benefit future cohorts.”

The visit was organised by Denise Proctor, Chair of Weave the Creative & Digital employers’ board, to demonstrate the great talent on their doorstep. Cheshire has more than 2,000 creative and digital businesses employing around 20,000 people.

Denise said: “We need to promote excellence of young design talent nurtured by Principal Matthew Grant and his team.

“Weave will encourage more companies in Cheshire to create employment opportunities to retain talent locally.”